Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-15
MAIDS OF HONOR.
waiting on Her British Majesty Is Any
thing But q Sinecure.

thing But s Sinecures
London Letter in New York Graphic.
The maids of honor to the Queen earn
every penny Of the $500 year which is
their stipend for filing very difficult
position. With the best Of intentions
and with the kindest heart in the world,
the Queen expects SO much from herself
10 the way Of physical toll, 1oth for bust
ness and pleasure, thar shz may perhaps
be excused for sometimes forgetting that
the flesh, especially aristocIatic flesh, is
weak. The maids of honor ere on duty
for month at g time, and at the end OF
month they are generally Ii subjects for
a course Of tonic treatment. While on
duty they csunO. Csll their souls
their own. After breakfast, which
they take in their own rooms, they
have to hold themselves III instant
readiness to obey the Queens sum-
Henry Ponson5y quits Her Maiesty's
presence, with the big red morocco dis
patch box, coutaiuins his days work,
under his arm. Af.er a brief "GOod
morning." the Queen suggests g little
reading, and the dutiful maid addresses
herself to the pile of papers, wherein the
ing have already been marked by Sir
Henry. Through columns snd columns
of parliamentary debate, leading articles
nd q; correspondence has the poor LADY 20
intoue her dismal way, often having 20
repeat passages, for the Queen never
leaves subject till she mas thoroughly
mastered It, and is not st slI sparirg il
her commands to "Just read that again,
r1lp ~ 10 mt n Z l.
mindiDg her stops and trying TO modulgte
her voice that she has little chance of W
derstandiDg a 1.-THE of whist she is reading,
and yet the moment the reading IS over
she has to rush of and get reat7 fer
drive with her royal mistress, during
which she will be expected II make lucid
remarks on the topics she Lgs jnst read
aloud.
After luncheon is the only real time the
maids Of honor have TO themselves, and
even that is spoiled for them by the un-
certainty as to whether thew Will be
wanted to walk or drive with the Queen
later in the afternoon. They must stsY
in their apartments, for, If by any chance
they should be sent for and were not 10
be found at the moment, their life for 8
day or two would not be & happy one, so
that stroll in the grounds on their own
account is out of the question til after I
O'Clock, when, If the Queen has departed
on drive without them, racy know UEeY
are free till 8 al any rate. On the Queens
return there is more reading aiouG, this
time of ponderous works on heavy phiio-
sophical subjects, or else the arranging
of sketches, photographs, it may DE
the charity needlew0rk is brought out til
such time as her Majesty goes to dress
for her 9 O'Clock dinner, where to the re-
lief of the maid of honor, she is not ex-
pected to be present BY this time she
is not unfrequently faint for want of food,
for when not at court she would naturally
be finishing dinner at the hour when 1t is
the Queens pleasure TO commence il.
Young ladies do rot, as g rule, lump at
the post of maid of honor to the Queen
until they have given themselves fair
chance OF obtaining an establishment"
1t is not until season after season has
been drawn blank that disconsolste la
dies have recourse to the dignity, very
much minus me leisure, of joining the
Household. II follows that, though
by no means in the scar and yellow leaf,
the majority of the maids OF honor are
not in the first blush of budding girlhood.
The present senior maid is the Hon. Har-
riet Lepel Phipps, cousin of the Mar
duls of Normandy. Miss Phipps will
never see her forty-tfth birthday again.
The Hon. Frances DrummOnd, q daugh-
ter OF VisC0unt Stratnsllsn, is thirty-nine.
The Hon. Ethel Csdogan was born in
1853, which puts to ner credit thirty
three summers, ana the Hon. Maud Oke-
over, a niece of Lady WaterparB, by
whose influence she got the appointment,
is only twenty-seven.